So, yesterday began fairly normally - I woke up early (well, before The Steward) and felt good, though my back and shoulders were a bit achy, and I trotted over to the Big House to fetch some eggs for breakfast. I ended up staying a while and helping BJ to order a Christmas present for The Steward. BJ doesn't trust eBay, nor Paypal, and was quite wary (and a mite jumpy) the whole time. But, that was the only way to purchase the items, so he was mostly convinced. I do not think he will fully believe until the package arrives.
I finally got back to my kitchen and started breakfast: bacon, sausage, wheat biscuits, and eggs. The smells must have woke my gently slumbering husband, for, before I had the chance to wake him, The Steward rounded the corner and exclaimed over his beautiful wife and the aroma of the various edibles frying and baking under her watchful eye.
So, to this point in the day, all was as it should be - the man waking up to start the day, filled with fortifying foodstuffs made by his domestic wife. It was even fairly normal while the wife cleaned up and the husband began to tackle the finances. The woman's mother called and they talked for a good many minutes. But by the end of the conversation, the wife found her energy rapidly being sapped from her body and her back and shoulders aching painfully. So she did the only thing her tired brain could figure to do - lay down on the sofa and pulled a fleece throw over herself. Her husband came to check on her and brought her two more blankets and a pillow, and laughed because her eyes leaked. She was in pain, you see, but could talk normally. The fact that she could cry without blubbering was intriguing to him, and he couldn't help but laugh at how odd this creature was (even though she is a perfectly normal woman). He wiped them away as fast as they came, and eventually she went to sleep.
I dreamed there was motion around me, some bangs and clatters and squeakysqueaky and spritzspritz and footsteps thumping up and down and all around. I couldn't make sense of it, but for some reason it didn't matter. and I drifted in and out of the dream.
I woke at the sound of the front door being opened, with the sight of my husband - in his skivvies! - framed by the brightness of the day behind him, bringing in a rug he had been beating. Still shaking off sleep, I asked what he was doing. He grinned at me and said he wanted to see how cold he could get outside in his underwear, and strode into the next room. I lay still for a moment more, trying to sweep away the cobwebs. I realized he had been housecleaning... and upon further inspection - he had cleaned everything! The kitchen, the master bath, the living room, our bedroom, and even washed and dried all the laundry! And he wanted to do it! I am continually amazed by the wonderful man God has given me. And also slightly chagrined that he beat me to the housecleaning - and worse, that he did it while I slept. I am very grateful for my husband, and greatly appreciate his love and care for me.
But, this was not the end of the role reversal.
Mom and Dad gave us a brand new propane Charbroil grill for Christmas, and we wanted burgers for dinner! So, I seasoned and formed the meat and cooked up some oven fries. JP was supposed to cook the meat when he got a chance to come home for dinner, but it got to be later and later and he couldn't come. So, armed with careful instructions straight from the Grill Master himself on opening the propane tank, turning on the burners, using the ignition button (ingenious, those buttons!), a warning about it not lighting in 5 seconds (allowing a moment for the gas to dissipate before trying again), and turning the burners to the proper temperature, and cooking the burgers - I stepped out on the porch and grilled my food.
And that is how I broke a Cardinal Rule of Being a Housewife: Do Not Learn Certain Tasks, Sub-Rule 4 - Never Learn to Grill. (Sorry, Ma!)
When he came to bed this morning The Steward said, "Why don't we just switch, I'll do the laundry and you do the grilling?" And we laughed.
I couldn't resist a picture - my very first (and only, Dear Husband?) grilling project:
Too bad I didn't get a picture of Laundry Mountain. For, at the very end of the day, I did fold the freshly cleaned laundry. :D
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